Status: Coming Soon How the feed algorithm works, what drives popularity, and what admins can influence.
Overview
TribeCrafter uses an intelligent feed ranking system that helps surface the most engaging content for your community members. Instead of showing only the most recent posts, the system considers engagement signals like comments, reactions, and replies to determine which posts are most valuable to show.
Feed Ordering Options
Members can choose from three ways to view their feed:
Newest
Posts are shown in reverse chronological order -- most recent first. This is the simplest view and shows every post as it was created.
Recent Activity
Posts are sorted by their most recent interaction. A post that received a new comment or reaction will move up in the feed, even if the original post is older. This helps members stay up to date with active discussions.
Popular
Posts are ranked by a popularity score that combines engagement metrics with time decay. This surfaces the most engaging recent content while allowing older posts to naturally drop in ranking over time.
How the Popularity Score Works
The popular feed uses a scoring system that considers:
Engagement Signals
Different types of interactions contribute different amounts to a post's popularity score:
| Interaction | Impact |
|---|---|
| New comment on a post | Highest impact -- comments indicate meaningful engagement. |
| Reply to a comment | High impact -- nested replies show deeper conversation. |
| Reaction on a post | Standard impact -- quick engagement signal. |
| Reaction on a comment or reply | Lower impact -- contributes to overall activity. |
Time Decay
A post's popularity score gradually decreases over time. This prevents old posts with high historical engagement from permanently dominating the feed. The decay is designed so that a post's score drops to roughly half its value after about 36 hours of no new engagement. New interactions boost the score back up.
The Result
The combination of engagement scoring and time decay means:
- A brand new post with several comments will rank highly.
- An older post that suddenly gets new engagement will rise back up.
- A post with no recent activity will gradually fade from the top of the feed.
- Viral posts with sustained engagement stay visible longer.
Popular Posts in Groups
Each group has its own popular posts ranking. When viewing a group, members can sort by Popular to see the most engaging content within that specific group. The same scoring and time decay rules apply.
Pinned Posts
Group admins can pin important posts to the top of the group feed. Pinned posts always appear first, regardless of the popularity ranking. They are separate from the popular algorithm -- pinned posts are not ranked against regular posts.
What Admins Can Influence
While the popularity algorithm runs automatically, there are several things you can influence as an admin:
- Pinned posts -- Pin important announcements or discussions to keep them at the top of group feeds.
- Featured content -- Mark courses, groups, events, and blog posts as "featured" to promote them in sidebars and landing pages.
- Content quality -- Encourage members to create engaging content that sparks discussion. Posts with thoughtful comments rank higher than posts with only reactions.
- Community culture -- Foster a culture of meaningful interaction. The algorithm rewards genuine engagement over passive browsing.
Key Details
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Score decay half-life | Approximately 36 hours |
| Strongest engagement signal | Comments on posts |
| Pinned post behavior | Always shown first, separate from ranking |
| Score update timing | Near real-time (within seconds of engagement) |
Tips
- Comments are the most valuable engagement signal. Encourage members to comment rather than just react to posts.
- The Popular feed view is particularly useful in active communities where members might miss important discussions if only viewing by Newest.
- Pinned posts are ideal for ongoing announcements, rules, or resources that should always be visible at the top of a group.
- The algorithm is self-correcting -- if engagement data ever gets out of sync, it can be rebuilt from the community's activity history.